ANALYSIS:
At its July 18, 2018 meeting, NCAC discussed the loss of funding for tai chi classes at Federation Towers. Funding for these classes had been provided by One Miami Beach, the now-dissolved, City non-profit organization. One Miami Beach had been providing funding in the amount of $6,000 per year that funded tai chi, yoga and zumba classes for the building's elder residents. Without this funding, Federation Towers' staff has advised that they can no longer offer this programming on-site. Please note that our Parks and Recreation Department offers tai chi and chair yoga at the North Beach Oceanfront Center. The Parks Department also offers water aerobics, chair aerobics and dance fusion for elder residents at Flamingo Park. At Scott Rakow Youth Center, the Parks Department offers chair aerobics, chair yoga, tai chi, and dance fusion classes for elder residents.
The Administration would like to advise the Committee that the City will be issuing a Request For Proposals (RFP) for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in February 2019. Up to 15 percent of these funds may be used to fund public services such as programming for elder residents and may serve as a funding source for this activity.
In addition, at the time this item was discussed, Commissioner Rosen Gonzalez inquired about the availability of tickets to events at the Arsht Center for use by Federation Towers tenants. Staff reached out to the Social Services Director at Federation Towers and subsequently connected her to the Arsht Center Box Office to explore all possible opportunities for free and discounted senior tickets to performances at the Arsht Center.
The Arsht Center staff advised that the best avenues to pursue event tickets for Federation Towers residents are as follows:
* For Federation Towers staff to explore group sales rates for events;
* To access "senior rush tickets" (normally available two hours before the shows); and
* Direct outreach by Federation Towers staff to the Arsht Center resident companies (Miami City Ballet, New World Symphony and Florida Grand Opera) to explore ticket options.